My fish need your help :(

This is a discussion on My fish need your help :( within the Freshwater and Tropical Fish forums, part of the Freshwater Fish and Aquariums category; -->
My fish, well whats left of them, need your help. -tear-
Started out in December...a friend moved and gave us his 50 gal tank...fully ...

Started out in December...a friend moved and gave us his 50 gal tank...fully stocked, great fish (i loved them..rip).

They did great...a month later my 2 1/2 yo son pours the whole container of food in...the water was brown...couldnt see anything...so I need to clean it...I take out some water..add some water...take out some water, add more water...the fish died. They were beautiful fish. The only 2 that survived were the 2 'sucker' catfish...one was the lil albino kind.

I found an ad on craigs list...someone was giving away fish...so I went and picked up 4...pliates? (sp) fish..they were HUMUNGOUS, looked pregnant overfed idk...one died the first night. So now im thinking great now I have 'infected' my tank with some diseased fish. here we are a month+ later 1...maybe 2 of those 'plieates' fish are still alive. I SEE 1...idk where the other is...maybe dead inside one of the decor? They dont even 'swim' around. Just sit at the bottom of the tank and hide.

This week the rocks.gravel w/e were turning green...so i added the algae stuff...my albino fish died. and another of the pleid.. blah blah fish.(which is why im confused did 3 die? or one is missing?

I've been cleaning the filter...took out the carbon filter for a night. today I just added more algae stuff took out the carbon filter. The water is 'cloudy'....NOT alot...just not nice and crystal.

What should I do? Take out my only surviving sucker fish? Clean the entire tank rocks, decor, all? I think im going to throw that last craigs list fish in the pond!

First thing we need to know what is the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, pH levels? Knowing these levels will head us in the right direction into figuring out what possibly could be going on with your tank, and how to help save your other fish.
Adding products to your aquarium to get rid of the algae I think only make it worse. If you are having an algae problem it could be do to a lot of things. How many hours a day is the light on? Is the light old? Is there natural light, like the sun, on the tank? How often do you do water changes, and how much do you think you take out when you do the water change?
When your son poured in the entire bag of food and you did those water changes, I am afraid that those water changes did some damage. Doing those large water changes in such a short amount of time (that's how I understood it) is not good.
Do you have any pictures so we can figure out what fish you have so you know how exactly to care for them?
Hopefully you can answer these questions quickly so more people can give you some input.

**Forgot to mention, that the cloudy water could be the beneficial bacteria blooming, so with all the cleaning you have done you most likely have sent your tank back into a cycle, which is deadly for most fish. When dealing with an aquarium it is best to leave the filter and biowheels alone unless they are broken. The beneficial bacteria lives on those and the gravel/decor in the tank so when you do such a clean all at once you will send your tank back into a cycle**
Stop the cleaning until we know exactly what's going on.... thanks!

Another thing....its got kinda alot of snails...well the past couple days they all climbed to the top @ the water line...as if they are 'escaping' something. Well...Now I think they are all dying. I see the shells littering the bottom of the tank. From the algae treatment?

For a week? Most definitley not. Your tank needs to cycle which obviously is the reason why everything is cloudy and dying. And we know nothing because you dont have a liquid test kit (which you need).

That's not really an option unless you have another cycled tank. Please just don't throw out the platy, I'd hate to see you do that, what you can do is take the rocks out one by one and clean them well (without chemicals/soap) and then get a python water changer and syphon your gravel, that will make a big difference. I've also seem to of heard that these "algae controllers" don't work that well and a normal aquarium scraper/sponge works pretty good for taking algae off the walls.

Definitely get an api master test kit, you probably lost your fish due to high ammonia/nitrite levels. Tell me what happens, don't flush the platy!

I think i'll toss all the rocks and get fresh clean new ones...that way I dont have to 'weed' through them picking out the 100 dead snails. (the snails are good right?) I also want to get the 'bottom' filter for under the gravel. I dont exactly have the time to suction my tank every week takieg the "10-15%" of water out and refilling it with 'non cholorine water"...what does that mean anyway? I have to buy like 6 gal bottled water every week? forget that!

I've got the magnetic scraper/brush thing I use often. Will also be getting my test kit ...maybe tomorrow or saturday. I just want a CLEAR tank with pretty fish...-sigh- I do miss those poor fishy i killed. I cried...and still do once in a while over it. :(

Also what is the deal with the platy fish? Are they like 'weird' hiding fish? I had 3 others that came with the tank originally...and they were no where near as HUGE as the ones I got on craigslist. They were small and seemed social. Swam around the tank...didnt hide like this other one. Also...are they supposed to look like their stomachs are going to pop? I thought they were pregger when the woman gave them to me.